This disclosure relates to a tangential compressor or turbine rotor having relief features formed on one of the two rails in the rotor and load slots formed on the other of the two rails in the rotor.
Turbomachines, such as gas turbine engines, are known. Turbomachines typically include a compressor that compresses air and delivers it downstream into a combustion section. The compressed air is mixed with fuel and combusted. The products of combustion pass downstream through a turbine. The compressor and turbine include rotors. Arrays of removable blades are mounted to the rotors.
When mounting the removable blades to the rotor, the removable blades are moved into load slots formed in the two opposed rails in the rotor. The load slots are formed at circumferentially spaced locations. Each of the load slots extend radially from radially inward facing surfaces of the rails to radially outward facing surfaces of the rails. During installation, the relatively wide root of each individual blade is moved into the load slots. The blades are then slid into a mount space between the rails, at locations that are circumferentially offset from the load slots. The blades are moved circumferentially until they fill the entire space. In addition, locks are positioned at several circumferentially spaced locations between the blades to take up remaining space and inhibit the blades from moving circumferentially relative to the rotor.
In the prior art, circumferentially aligned pairs of load slots are formed in the opposing rails to accommodate the roots of the blades. Some prior art designs may utilize a single load slot formed in the rail that faces the compressor rather than a circumferentially aligned pair of load slots. The single load slot is much larger than each of the load slots in the circumferentially aligned pairs. The larger load slot may undesirably accelerate fatigue in the rail.